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DPP reviews past
policies
By Chris Wang / Staff reporter
A seminar organized by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday
questioned whether the foreign and cross-strait policies of the administration
of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) were inconsistent — and if so, why.
“The DPP cannot place all the blame [for what it was unable to accomplish] on
Beijing’s oppression and the Chinese Nationalist Party’s [KMT] majority in the
legislature,” Foundation on Asia-Pacific Peace Studies president Chao Chun-shan
(趙春山) told a panel discussion. “After all, tensions across the Taiwan Strait and
deteriorating Taiwan-US relations were facts.”
The seminar was the first of four weekly installments, a comprehensive review
that gathers academics and former government officials to examine 17 policy
areas of the DPP administration from 2000 to 2008 in the hope of helping the
party return to power.
Four panel discussions covering the economy, foreign policy, cross-strait policy
and national defense were held yesterday.
Chao, one of President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) most trusted cross-strait affairs
advisers, said it was inevitable for political observers to define the DPP’s
foreign and China policies as inconsistent since Chen had submitted a “four noes
and one not” policy in his inaugural address, and at one point considered
conditionally accepting the so-called “1992 consensus.”
However, Chen made a swift U-turn in his second term by advocating a series of
radical policies, such as “one country on each side” and Taiwan’s bid to become
a member of the UN, Chao said.
“If the DPP is serious about a thorough introspection of its past
administration, it needs to explain why those changes occurred” rather than
reminiscing on what it had accomplished, he said.
One of the DPP’s most glaring weaknesses has been the struggle between its
political ideology and hard reality, Chao said, because space to maneuver as a
ruling party is dramatically diminished.
Former DPP government officials countered that the party’s policies are rational
and consistent, with former representative to the US and former Mainland Affairs
Council chairman Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) saying that the DPP administration had always
upheld the principles of peace, reconciliation and collaboration in its
engagement with Beijing, and was able to move bilateral relations forward,
although in baby steps, with successful negotiations on charter flights and the
“three small links” even during difficult periods.
In his review of DPP foreign policy between 2000 and 2008, former deputy
minister of foreign affairs Michael Kau (高英茂) said that Beijing’s hostility was
why Chen’s foreign policy shifted from one of pragmatism and steadiness to
trying to break out of China’s encirclement, which contributed to a souring of
Taiwan-US ties.
Changes in policy could also be attributed to Chen’s character, former National
Security Council deputy secretary-general Antonio Chiang (江春男) said.
“Chen has always been a pragmatist without a firm political ideology. He could
have supported unification and been a pro-China politician if that would have
helped him get re-elected,” Chiang said.
However, panelists agreed that the former DPP administration was able to ensure
that Taiwanese sovereignty and national integrity topped the agenda in
engagements with China and other countries, and commanded better interagency
coordination and communication for its policy implementation in comparison with
the current KMT administration.
The next seminar continues on Friday next week with discussions on finance,
banking, transportation, agriculture, as well as the environment and energy.
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